Corporate sponsors at Butte Senate debate under fire
2006-09-26
Source: Missoulian
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rss feedSenate candidate Jon Tester's campaign complained Monday that some of the best seats in the theater at a Butte debate Saturday night were reserved for backers of Sen. Conrad Burns, who has close ties to one of the event's sponsors.
Tester's campaign said it expects to file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission over the controversy. Details were unavailable Monday.
At issue is the fact that Resodyn Corp., one of three sponsors of the debate, was given 30 reserved seats in the center section near the front of the Mother Lode Theater. The theater, which holds 1,230 people, drew a crowd estimated at 1,000 people.
Seating had been billed in advance as being on a first-come, first-served basis, except for the 25 seats reserved for each campaign and those set aside for media covering the debate. Some Democrats and Tester backers were irked when they were told they couldn't sit in the reserved section.
Judging by the cheering, Tester backers outnumbered the Burns supporters by at least three or four to one at the debate in the theater in heavily Democratic Butte.
Those people sitting in the reserved Resodyn section, sporting Burns stickers, were among the Republican's loudest backers, greeting the senator with a standing ovation when he was introduced.
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